| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
|
|
|
|||||||
|
|||||||||
Ann Thorac Surg 2000;69:7-8
© 2000 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons
Address reprint requests to Dr Kouchoukos, Cardiac, Thoracic and Vascular Surgery, Missouri Baptist Medical Center, Suite 266C, 3039 North Ballas Rd, St. Louis, MO 63131
e-mail: ntkouch{at}aol.com
This will be my final communication to you as President of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons, except for my comments at the annual meeting later this month. Nineteen ninety-nine was a challenging but extremely productive year for our Society. I will review some of the important activities and the major accomplishments of the past year.
|
I am pleased to announce that the first Earl Bakken Scientific Achievement Award, honoring one of our members who has made important scientific contributions that have enhanced the practice of thoracic surgery, will be presented to Dr Gerald R. Buckberg of Los Angeles at the annual meeting. Professor Hans Borst of Munich, Germany will deliver the Alley-Sheridan Lecture. An excellent postgraduate symposium will be held on January 30, 2000. On Saturday, January 29th, immediately preceding the meeting, a joint social program will be held with the European Association for Cardiothoracic Surgery consisting of a cruise through the inland waterway and a formal banquet that evening. Members of the EACTS will be our special guests for this first thoracic surgical meeting in the new millenium. I hope that you will plan to attend all of these exciting events.
The Duke Cardiovascular Research Institute (DCRI) has become the official warehousing facility for the STS National Database. It completed the first harvest of data in August 1999, and 347 sites were included. The report of the 1999 data will, for the first time, be risk adjusted not only for coronary artery bypass grafting procedures, but also for valve and combined valve and coronary bypass procedures. Also, for the first time, individual sites will receive reports that contain their outcome data, and these data will be benchmarked against national and regional results. Beginning in 2000, it is anticipated that data will be harvested and reports will be generated twice yearly. With regard to software, there are presently eight companies who have signed contracts with the STS to provide compatible software packages. These companies are currently in various stages of the certification and validation process, and certified software will be available from one or more of these companies early this year. Please check our web site (www.sts.org) to obtain the latest information.
I am extremely pleased to report that The Society of Thoracic Surgeons has received a 1.5 million-dollar, 3-year grant from the Association for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR), which is a Division of the Office of Health and Human Services. This project will examine four regional databases and then perform a randomized trial to determine if there is an impact on the process of healthcare based upon data provided back to participating sites. This is the first grant from the AHCPR to be awarded to a medical specialty society.
In 1999, CTSNet was reorganized, and the STS, which was the sole owner, entered into a joint ownership agreement with the American Association for Thoracic Surgery and the European Association for Cardiothoracic Surgery. Dr Peter Greene of Baltimore, an STS member, was appointed Executive Editor. It is anticipated that CTSNet will be self-sustaining in 2000 and that it will assume a profitable status in subsequent years. It will become a major source of information and education for thoracic surgeons throughout the world.
Doctor L. Henry Edmunds of Philadelphia was appointed as the Editor-Elect of The Annals of Thoracic Surgery and will succeed Dr Thomas B. Ferguson, who is retiring after 15 years as Editor, at the time of our annual meeting. A retirement dinner was held for Dr Ferguson on October 10th, 1999, in San Francisco, and was attended by many of the present and former members of the editorial board. The Annals of Thoracic Surgery has flourished under Dr Ferguson’s direction, and the Society as well as the entire thoracic surgical community have benefited enormously from his efforts.
On the political front, the Society has taken a strong position supporting patient protection legislation, which includes the endorsement of six principles championed by the Patient Access to Specialty Care Coalition. The Professional Affairs Committee continues its efforts to challenge the accuracy and the legality of several proposals by the Health Care Finance Administration (HCFA) that have recommended further reductions in reimbursement for professional services. The STS has submitted to the HCFA a detailed statement addressing these concerns. Many members of Congress have been contacted by our key contacts and by other members of the STS, alerting them to the devastating impact that HCFA’s recent proposals will have on our specialty and on the patients we serve. These activities have been very effective in educating members of Congress about the potentially detrimental effects of these proposals. The Public Affairs/Patient Advocacy Subcommittee has been working diligently to inform the public about what thoracic surgeons do and how they promote good health. One example is the "Smoke Signals" project, which is targeting children and educating them about the dangers of smoking. (See "Smoke Signals" on our website.)
The joint (with AATS) Thoracic Surgery Workforce Committee has initiated a new survey of thoracic surgeons in the United States. This is a critically important endeavor that will attempt to identify the workforce requirements for the early part of the 21st century. The Standards and Ethics Committee, in collaboration with the Standards and Ethics Committee of the AATS, has been charged with examining several of the important ethical issues that currently face our specialty. These include relationships with industry, conflicts of interest, and disclosure. A task force comprised of members from the Standards and Ethics Committee, the Major Issues Committee, and the Health Policy Subcommittee of the Professional Affairs Committee has been formed to prepare a position statement regarding unions and will be reporting to the Council at our meeting later this month.
The activities cited above represent only a fraction of the work that our Society is currently engaged in to promote the science and practice of thoracic surgery. I am indebted to the various committee chairpersons and their committee members for their extraordinary efforts in addressing a myriad of critical issues that have and will continue to challenge our specialty. These committees are working closely with a deeply committed and well-informed Executive Committee and Council, and with our superb supporting staff at Smith Bucklin Associates. I am confident that the Society is well prepared to meet the challenges and opportunities that await us in the new millenium.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
| ANN THORAC SURG | ASIAN CARDIOVASC THORAC ANN | EUR J CARDIOTHORAC SURG |
| J THORAC CARDIOVASC SURG | ICVTS | ALL CTSNet JOURNALS |
